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Crate training and Housebreaking.
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Crate Training and Kennels . . . If you intend for your labrador puppy to be all or part house dog, I highly recommend crate training. This is a simple procedure when started as a puppy. You simply keep your puppy in a crate or kennel whenever he is inside the house and not being played with, trained or otherwise paid attention to. The crate becomes his bed, his home, his safe place. This can be very useful if he is inside while you are gone for a period of hours. No chewed up table legs, holes dug in carpet or garbage pails, wastebaskets or toiletpaper rolls flung about the residence! It is also very helpful if you intend to travel with your lab. The crate goes in the van, puppy goes in crate, and because it is his home, he is happy. And when you get to Grandma's house and Grandma wishes to keep the items on her coffee table from being swatted about the room by a wagging tail, he has his safe place to keep him out of trouble! You are going to need a LARGE crate for your lab to be comfortable. For females, a crate about 40" deep, 30" high and 27" wide will be about right. For males, a crate about 48" deep, 35" high and 32" wide is about right. I know most of the literature suggests smaller sizes for labs, but I tend to breed larger dogs, and these sizes are about right. There are many styles of crates and kennels. Most will work just fine, but I personally prefer the Vari-Kennel. This crate is a solid crate with ventilation grates that will feel more like a "den" to your dog, and may result in a more secure feeling. The totally open wire crates don't give your dog a feeling of cozy home. In nature, canines will actually dig a cave for a den, and I think the solid wall crates are most likely to give your puppy the secure "den" feeling. Most of them are acceptable to the airlines if you must fly with your lab. Most of the big box pet stores will carry these sizes or can order them for you. If you prefer the convenience of ordering and delivery, the Petco.com site has these crates here. Housebreaking The crate can also be a tremendous help in housebreaking your puppy. Dogs do not like to soil their sleeping area. Even most young puppies show this behaviour. In my puppy pen, they all choose a corner for the "toilet" and use it, keeping the rest of the puppy pen reasonable clean. To use the crate as a potty training tool, whenever you let your puppy out of his crate after an extended period (2 hours or more), take him immediately out to where you want him to "go" and wait with him for results. Reward results with a "good boy", scratch the tummy, play a little and convey to him your pleasure. He will usually get the idea fairly quickly, and will start to give you little signals when he needs to go. You need to be paying attention when he does signal you, and take him out to his spot. The signal may be standing by the door, it may be turning around, nose to the ground several times an looking at you, it may be a whine or a bark. If you are paying attention and everything works right, you are home free! For puppies from my kennel, another idea that may help is to put pine wood shavings in a cat litter box next to his crate, or maybe for hard cases, inside his crate. My puppies are accustomed to using shavings as their toilet area. I have had new owners report to me that they put the box with shavings down and puppy hopped right in and did his thing! In fact, it is a common behaviour here in my kennel that as soon as the pen is cleaned and new shavings put down, puppies immediately use them. If your puppy does indeed use them, then after a couple of days move the box next to the door. When he's used to using the box there, move it outside the door, and then pay close attention to him so you notice when he is looking for the box and can let him out. A doggie door may be helpful at this stage as well. When he is used to going outside, put the shavings down on the ground in the area you want him to use, and it is likely you will have trained him to use a certain spot in the yard for his business. That means you will only have to scoop one area! Back to Feeding and Exercise
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